


Riddles Suck

by scyler23



Series: Shorts and Outtakes [3]
Category: Final Fantasy VII, Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Crappy Title, I know, I'm Sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-31
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-06-19 12:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,015
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15509436
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scyler23/pseuds/scyler23
Summary: In a hidden room the Master Chief and Cortana stumble on something that shouldn't be there. How will they deal with it?





	Riddles Suck

**Author's Note:**

> Yep, we go from crappy summaries to crappy titles. Sorry guys. I just wanted to get this stuff out there for you. At some point I'll probably go back and modify summaries and titles but for now the garbage will do. (Ah! Ah! See what I did there? :D)

“You do realize there isn’t supposed to be anything remotely humanoid living on this thing right?” a female voice said into the silence of the room. 

 

All the voice got was a low hum as the massive armored figure paced slowly around the dais. On the metal platform a man lay, sleeping and very much alive. There was a large intricate looking sword hanging behind a thick glass pane just above the man’s head. The weapon probably belonged to the man but who in the world would want such a massive thing? It looked like it was more trouble than it was worth. 

 

“Wait!” the female voice called out again. “There! On the wall next to the sword. There’s something written there.”

 

Turning the armored giant moved over to the inscription, “What does it say?” 

 

“Give me a moment, Chief. It’s written in a language similar to the Covenant’s but not. I need a moment to translate it,” the woman replied. 

 

“We might not have a minute, Cortana,” the Chief replied, shifting his grip on his rifle as the AI worked. 

 

A soft snort filled the room, “Easy there, tiger. I told you I only needed a moment. This language is a combination of the Covenant’s main dialect and what looks like Old Norse. Odd combo...” 

 

Shifting his considerable weight the Master Chief looked at the sword again. Now that he was closer it was apparent that the blade was actually made of several smaller blades. He wasn’t sure just how many but he assumed that it looked the same on the other side as it did on this one. It was about as tall as he was, maybe a little shorter. That meant the man beneath it had to have some kind of serious strength to be able to even lift it. If the blade was even his to begin with. There was always the possibility that it wasn’t his blade and he was just placed here for an unknown reason. Waiting for Cortana to finish translating the message didn’t take much longer, thankfully. 

 

“Alright, I got  it. It’s a riddle,” she said triumphantly. 

 

“A riddle? What kind of riddle?” he asked finally turning his attention back to the task t hand.

 

“One of those ‘What is my name?’ ones. It says ‘ _ Light and free I cover the sky in softness, but also in shadow and density. One beautiful and light, the other cold and unforgiving. Both together make up me. What is my name?’.  _ Wow, that’s the most vague thing I have ever heard in my entire life,” Cortana groaned and John could almost feel her rolling her eyes inside his helmet. “Light and free... in the sky? What in the world could that be?”    

 

The Chief stared at the inscription a little longer before a thought came to him, “What about a cloud? They look soft and more often than not just drift across the sky.” 

 

No sooner had he said the word “cloud” that the inscription glowed brightly. When the light faded, there at the bottom in an absolutely terrible handwriting, was the word “cloud” but with a capital “C”. The first name. There was no other explanation. Cortana praised the soldier before taking another look at the riddle again. Together they mused over what the last name could be. They threw out all kinds of words that might make sense but nothing seemed to stick. Finally the Spartan huffed irritably and looked back at the sleeping man. 

 

“This last part is impossible! We’ve thrown just about every word meaning disaster and destruction at this thing and still nothing! What the hell is this guy’s last name?” Cortana fumed, more than a little pissed that she wasn’t getting the right answer. 

 

 

John just listened to her rant and rave for almost a good five minutes before suddenly she stopped. Tensing he adjusted his grip on his rifle and looked around the rom. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, other than the obvious that is. There was nothing on the motion tracker meaning the enemy hadn’t found them yet. That was a good thing. They had been in this room for quite some time now so he was more than expecting them to come crashing through the doors at any minute. 

 

“I just had a thought...” Cortana said softly. 

 

“What kind of thought?” he asked her, still on alert. 

 

“What if we were going about this the wrong way? What if it’s not destruction we are looking for but something else. Something that causes annoyance or strife or something like that,” the AI trailed off as the inscription started glowing again. 

 

This time the light was so bright it caused the Spartan’s helmet to polarize. Looking away from the brightness he turned slightly to face the other person in the room. Nothing seemed to have changed with the man, though. Eyes narrowed slightly as he turned back toward the inscription. By now the light was fading and the words were becoming readable again. Under the riddle two words glowed brightly. The name. The full name. Somehow, something Cortana said had actually turned out to tbe the right word they were looking for. It took a few more  seconds for the light to fade from the name and when it did Cortana laughed. 

 

“Really?  _ That’s  _ the word we were looking for? Wow. you talk about an odd name, especially for a man,” she laughed, the sound filling the small space. “Well, what are you waiting for? Say  it.”

 

“Why don’t you say it? You are the one who figured it out,” the Spartan countered. 

 

“I figured out the last half and that was only by accident. Besides I think you, being the only other human in the vicinity should be the one to try and wake this guy up,” the AI shot back quickly. 

 

Sighing John took one more look at the glowing name before turning to the man, words popping into his head like some kind of rite, “You asked for your name and I found it. Your name is... Cloud Strife.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave comments, kudos and/or bookmarks! They feed my soul!


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